The NES/Famicom really does have a lot of shooters in its library. Some of
these are brilliant, others more archetypal. This is not necessarily a bad
thing, as the games are usually pretty decent. Terra Cresta's NES incarnation
suffers from sometimes plodding and repetetive gameplay but it's still a
pretty fun game to sit down and play.
The upgrade system is pretty interesting here, kind of like Magmax you
eventually build your ship. Though when you get big, you're easier to hit.
With the very slow movement of your craft, this can be more often than not.
Other than these balance issues, the game's not too excruciating so just kick
back and play it.
Terra Cresta is a vertical scrolling shooter. You play through a continuous,
looping world until you've run out of lives. Your ship normally takes one hit
to destroy, though upgrades absorb some shots. This, of course destroys the
upgrades.
B fires your shots and A launches your ship parts.
Ship parts are the aforementioned upgrades. Each one upgrades your firing
capabilities and some add a tail gun, etc. Very handy.
Of course, these parts make you a larger target though the more you get the
simpler a matter it is to transform into an indestructible pheonix. Take the
time to really rack up points at this time.
You can launch your parts a limited amount of times (indicated at the bottom
left of the screen). They then fire in any number of directions and pillage the
enemy forces. They will blow up if you use this option to exhaustion, so it's
best saved for a few choice encounters.
Finally, a design mode lets you design HOW these parts fly out from your ship.
This is a very cool feature, you can place their position relative to your
ship and then alter their direction of fire.
This is a general outline of the game, it will change based on where you die.
------*TCS.01: Phase 1*------
Terra Cresta starts out as your ship is launched fromt he ocean. Pull back from
the start and fire at the blue ships that loop back. They will fire then loop
back to the top of the screen when they reach the bottom. Keep your eye on the
small brown domes as well, some are turrets.
There will be some blue ships up ahead which move in sporadic sinusoids. They
continually fire, then move out of the way. There's an upgrade toward the right
of the screen. For now you may not want to get in front of tyrannosaurs as they
will spit fire at you. Just avoid them until you get upgraded. Remember, shoot
the "2" to reveal the upgrade. Saddle up, and knock a T-Rex out if you have the
room to do it.
If "3" is upnext, two "3" orbs flank the panel where your upgrade comes from.
Destroy both to release the upgrade. But you will want to destroy the large
swivel turrets first - they only take one shot but they turn to aim at you and
will interrupt your acquisition.
After a bit of hills and brown domes you will encounter vlue circles - get
nearer to the centre of the screen. They fire shots and draw circles in the sky
before flying off. You should have time to destroy them all before they all
leave. Just get below them and fire away.
Over the ocean there are emergent turrets that come up where the water is
disturbed. Turn your attention instead tot he pulsing circles and fire on them.
They fly with little horizontal direction but often leave a shot upon death, so
watch your step. It's best to focus on them and avoid the shots no?
Up ahead are two variety of X-Ships. X-Chasers and X-Loopers. The chasers
track you on the x-axis, moving in after you when you pass them. Stay near the
bottom and fire at them as they arrive. If you miss one then you will have to
dodge all of them. The loopers make a few loops around the screen, firing. Try
to stay below them and take out as many as possible as they loop back right
into your shots.
The iron tigers up ahead are just like the tyrannosaurs. Just avoid them if
they get too close.
***BOSS 1***
This arrives just as you pass the two tigers so stay to one side of the screen
and you will be ready for it. It always appears on the opposite side of the
screen as your ship.
It moves in and fires normal shots and blue shots - the blue shots are
destructible. So if you can provoke it to move UP you can get beneath it and
give it a sound thrashing before it runs away. So you can destroy it, but do
not forget about the brown turrets here either - they will be present during
the fight and destroying them is a priority.
------*TCS.02: Phase 2*------
After a few more brown dome turrets you will see some red-winged loops. They
fly in formation onto the screen, then fly off after a loop. Shoot them towards
the centre of the screen but take care to dodge the shots.
As you approach the enxt upgrade station you'll see some new variants on the
blue wave ships, these ones fly in a straight up sinusoid with no variance.
Upgrade, avoid them, and focus on the scatter ships. These stay still until you
get close and then they scatter to the side. Try to anticipate this - destroy
most of them and dodge oppsite of where they are flying.
Before another round of scatter ships there will be a circle enemy that
explodes when shot. It'll be by its lonesome except maybe for some sea turrets,
so fire at it when it is still far away. It explodes into some shots, so the
more distance you have for potential evasion the better.
There will be some scatterers and turrets around these parts. The singular
scatterers loop back and fire at you - this is a dangerous tactic so take
advantage of the loopback time to destroy it before dodging the fire.
A tyrabbosaur approaches at the upper right, and blue waves and loopbacks at
the centre. The lefthand side is the safest, but you won't get as many points
there! After some pulse circles there is a square turret on the cliff. There is
nothing new about it, so frag it and move on.
There are some loopbacks near the swivel turret coming up, stay towards the
right of the screen and destroy the turret as it arrives.
The red wings up ahead litter a screen full of other enemies. There are red
winged wave ships and loopers here. Take out any swivel turrets you see but for
the most part, focus on the red-wings.
The poind onscreen when the blue wavers appear hides a sea turret. Stay to the
left and keep plugging those foes. Some loopbacks will appear as well. But the
more dangerous foe here are spinning blue circles. You may want to deploy your
parts because they make really tight curves while at the same time firing.
There is a swivel turret up ahead so deploying your parts helps you get around
to hitting it while dodging the spinning circles.
There are more of these circles near to the upgrade station - they are much
less severe though so you should be able to fire on them from near the bottom
and take out most of them. There's a boss coming up.
***BOSS 2***
This one moves back and forth launching blue wave ships and shots. Just follow
its position left and right, letting the shots thin out when they get too thick
to handle by leaving to the side and taking out a few blue wvaers.
When the ship is flasing red, it will retreat. I couldn't get it to register
any damage so I believe it must fly away.
------*TCS.03: Phase 3*------
You'll start to close in on land again. There will be some small blue pods that
move about the screen, firing. They are somewhat erratic so hit the bottom of
the screen and take them out. There's plenty of turrets here, but the pods are
a little more dangerous.
Stay toward the centre now as you fight the pulse circles - there are some
looping enemies from the bottom. Focus more on what's in front of you and get
the upgrade to the upper left. Then shoot at least one of the iron tigers up
ahead - you should have plenty of room.
Red-wings will fly by as sea turrets pup up - take on the wings first. There is
an exploder circle coming up too, so shoot it towards teh top of the screen. As
the water ends there will be another upgrade station.
There are some looping ships and a swivel cannon up ahead. Stay towards the
left tot ake out the blue wavers and the exploder up ahead. there's a few
tyrannosaurs so you may want to avoid them given the volume of other enemies.
There will be a long series of red wings up ahead - stay toward the centre so
you can also take out the more centrally posiitoned dome turrets. When you see
a swivel turret - watch out - there are X-Chasers up ahead. Take out the cannon
and then as many of these as you can.
There are scatterers up ahead. Stay near the back of the screen and take out as
many as possible. Towards the upper left will be an upgrade station.
***BOSS 3***
This is like the previous encounter, only faster.
This one moves back and forth launching blue wave ships and shots. Just follow
its position left and right, letting the shots thin out when they get too thick
to handle by leaving to the side and taking out a few blue wvaers.
When the ship is flasing red, it will retreat. I couldn't get it to register
any damage so I believe it must fly away.
If you have to move past the stream, stay a little near the the centre of the
screen and go down and over to get underneath the shots which will be tracking
your higher position.
------*TCS.04: Phase 4*------
There are purple loopers and chasers just ahead. the loopers come from near the
bottom so destroy the chasers from down below then head up a bit to avoid the
arcing path of the loopers.
The next loopers come from the side - it may be best to try and loop beneath
them as the turrets up ahead may get the better of you.
Puddles hold sea turrets and on the land there are swivel turrets. Red wings
and blue wavers dot the land as well and you should focus on the swivel turrets
first and then the ships.
Two black X's at the top of the screen block the path to lines of 4 turrets on
each side. Stray above one X and take out two of the turrets, then above the
other to destroy all four. If you want, head back to the other side and get
the rest of the turret.
But stay toward the centre to take out the turrets and blue pods near the next
upgrade station. There are only a few loopbacks after the station complimenting
some brown domes so it's free for the taking, more or less.
***BOSS 4***
This purple beast moves back and forth firing fists and shots. You can destroy
these fists - and you are advised to as they seek you.
Stay toward the bottom and fire at one side of the boss to destroy its arm. It
is nearly impossible to avoid a fist if it gets anyways close to you so you may
want to take a hit if you have upgrades for the sake of destorying one arm then
work on the other.
Now, focus on the central red core. Stay nearer the centre of the screen and
move down when you have to dodge the shots. It's a simple matter of firing and
weaving now until the end so keep it up and you will beat him. The important
thing is to bust his arms though.
------*TCS.MP: More Phases*------
After this it seems the game loops. Either way, the game is continuous so it's
like it never ended. So you'll have everything you did previously, which could
be everything or nothing, all things considered!
None of these names are official. This list is purely descriptive. Behaviour
will change slightly depending on the situation, though these descriptions are
accurate in general.
*Blue Circle:
-----------
Fly onto the screen then fly in circles before leaving. They fire at you and
often arrive in formations. Shoot at them while they draw their circles and
they will fly right into your shots.
There is a spinning variety that makes really tight turns.
*Blue Loopbacks:
--------------
Ships with rounded sides that are likely the first you will encounter. These
ships fly to the bottom of the screen, then loop back up towards the top. This
behaviour means you should avoid them as they approach but keep tracking their
motion until they fly off the top. They can fire at you as well.
*Blue Pod:
--------
Small ships that move in a somewhat erratic path. They can fire at you and
arrive in great numbers - definitely priority while their numbers are high.
*Blue Wave Ships:
---------------
They move in sporadic sinusoids form top to bottom, with some motion towards
you (they may wait longer before turning for instance). They fire all the time
so fire at them from near the bottom and get out of the way before they arrive.
You might think their sporadic nature will mean dodging them is risky business.
It really isn't, they're slow and predictable. While they are a little more
dangerous, they shouldn't pose too much of a threat.
Another version that flies in a consistent sinusoid exists. They are easier to
dodge.
*Brown Dome:
----------
Some are benign, brown domes. Others are turrets. They are stationary, so they
are easy targets. There are certainly more threatening foes on the field.
*Exploder:
--------
Explodes into some shots when destroyed, these circles are best taken out as
soon as you see them.
*Iron Tiger:
----------
Large and stationary, they fire a fireball if you get in their path. Like the
tyrannosaurs, they have a high point yield but if you get too close, just
retreat for your own sake.
*Large Swivel Turret:
-------------------
The canon moves to face the ship and launches a shot. It is a larger target and
only takes a small beating so destroy it as priority in most situations.
*Pulsing Circle:
--------------
Move a little slowly and pulse. When you shoot them, they sometimes release a
shot, so don't be caught off-guard.
*Red Winged Looper:
-----------------
Flies onto the screen, loops, then flies off firing all the way. They can be
best reaped right at the apex of their looping circle.
*Red Winged Wave Ships:
---------------------
Like the blues, they fly in consistent or disjoint sinusoids.
*Scatter Ships:
-------------
They scatter when you get near, so it's best to focus your shots on them from
far away. They also appear in large groups, so they become a priority of sorts.
Another variety loops back when it gets near to you and shoots.
*Sea Turret:
----------
The eater moves a bit before a square turret is revealed. Look for these
disturbances in the water and remember their position.
*Square Turret:
-------------
A square turret that fires at you. It's easily dropped so take it out asap.
*Tyrannosaurus:
-------------
A large, stationary target that is hard to kill. If you get in front of it, it
launches a fireball. Now, these can go a little diagonally so always keep an
eye out. If you are close to one OR underpowered, don't risk it. They do give a
lot of points though.
*X-Chaser:
--------
This purple ship flies after your horizontal position. It is best to destroy it
before it arrives. It's often in a formation so make them a priority or you'll
have to avoid multiple of these suckers and then things get dicey really fast.
*X-Looper:
--------
This purple ship is like the blue circles, really. It flies on to the screen,
does a few loops, and fires a few shots - often in formation. Shoot as they fly
into your path of fire. Use their loops to your advantage.
